Federal regulations recently set forth by the FDA and European Union (EU) have limited or completely banned the types of material that can be exposed in certain applications. Such materials currently found in most plastics used in the printing industry are Phthalates and heavy metals including but not limited to lead, cadmium, and arsenic. To meet this new requirement, the Joseph Merritt & Company and the team at Merritt Graphics placed the revolutionary latex-ink printer from HP, the HP Scitex LX800, into service at its Hartford facility on Monday, December 13, 2010. For its clients, Merritt can now eliminate the trade-offs between solvent and water-based inks providing high quality printing from banners and vehicle wraps to billboards using HP Latex inks. One client in particular required Merritt to produce thousands of completely hazard-free banners to be distributed worldwide. The HP Latex ink print process meets this need and eliminates solvent emissions or VOC emissions. The HP Scitex LX800 Printer addresses the demands for a clean print process.

"In recent years, our efforts were spent working with our suppliers to develop 'banner material' that met the criteria set by the FDA and EU. This year [our client] has put a limitation on the types of inks used for the printed product," stated Ed Perry, president & CEO of Joseph Merritt. "Although, a UV-cured process may be considered safe, it just wasn't enough. HP had the solution with the latex printer."

With the ability to print up to 1200 DPI, all clients can enjoy a variety of custom applications such as high quality printing for wall coverings, Point-of-Purchase (POP) posters, Soft Signage like flags and fabric banners, Outdoor and Event graphics, Vehicle Wraps, and light boxes.

As companies across the country start to recover from a turbulent economy, many printing businesses have not been so lucky. "Diversification. That is the key to be successful and ultimately stay in business," said Perry. "There are many firms in our industry that focus on one style of printing or industry, be it offset, small-format, large-format, or blueprinting, for example." Perry explained that when he bought Joseph Merritt in the late 80s he vowed to diversify what was exclusively a blueprinting company serving the Architects, Engineers, and Contractors in the Hartford area since 1908. "We'd be out of business today, if we still only did blueprinting. Instead we made a conscious decision to become a digital print, marketing/creative services, and imaging firm offering a variety of high quality solutions." With the addition of the HP Scitex LX800 Printer, that circle is quickly becoming full and this eight-location Northeast firm continues to amaze clients across the nation.